The finished sawbench.
We’re in the home stretch now!
Since I had the top boards ready-to-go, I started the glue-up. Each board is held in place by two half-lap joints on the top of the legs. The short cross rails that hold the base together created a platform to support the top boards across their width. Gluing up these joints was straightforward; I just needed to ensure that the half lap joints were closed tight and that the top boards were sitting flat on the rails.
Gluing the top boards to the legs.
Boring the holes for the dowels.
I wanted some insurance on all of these half laps since the sawbench will be treated roughly over its lifetime. So, I decided to peg all the joints with dowels. I used an auger bit to bore out two holes in each joint. The auger bit leaves a perfectly-sized hole with no tear out. I cut the pegs from a 3/8” cherry dowel rod, added a little glue, and tapped them home with a hammer. I left the dowels extra long until the glue dried and then I trimmed them flush.
Cutting down a 3/8" cherry dowel rod. I tapered each dowel slightly with a chisel to make it easier to drive it into the joint.
The dowels are glued into the joint to peg it in place. Notice also that the surfaces have not been flushed up around the joint yet.
Glamour shot #1
Glamour shot #2
The final surface prep was easy. I used a block plane to flush up all the surfaces around the joints, and I applied two coats of Tried and True Original Wood Finish. Once the finish dried, the sawbench was ready to work! This was a fun project to build, and it’s a useful tool to have in the shop.